Antonio Silva was making the point that he feels quicker and more athletic when he's small.

But to Silva, small is a relative term. Because at 6 feet, 4 inches, 260 pounds with a size-16 shoe and fists the size of ham hocks, Silva's small is most folks' XXXXL.

And there aren't as many guys of his size and his thickness who are able to do a cartwheel, as Silva is able to do. He tried one after a recent fight as a promise to his daughter, Anne, and it turned out to be a miserable failure.

He's about the size of 2½ gymnasts combined, but defending his less-than-artistic success by pointing out that "people were coming into the ring to congratulate me and I was trying to get it done too fast before I would hit anyone."

It may be promoter Gary Shaw who does a cartwheel tonight – or at least thinks of doing one – if Silva is able to impressively defeat Ricco Rodriguez on a Showtime-televised Elite XC card at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla.